Saturday, September 22, 2012

[Book Review] Heat Wave by Richard Castle

Summary (from Amazon):
A New York real estate tycoon plunges to his death on a Manhattan sidewalk. A trophy wife with a past survives a narrow escape from a brazen attack. Mobsters and moguls with no shortage of reasons to kill trot out their alibis. And then, in the suffocating grip of a record heat wave, comes another shocking murder and a sharp turn in a tense journey into the dirty little secrets of the wealthy. Secrets that prove to be fatal. Secrets that lay hidden in the dark until one NYPD detective shines a light. Mystery sensation Richard Castle, blockbuster author of the wildly best-selling Derrick Storm novels, introduces his newest character, NYPD Homicide Detective Nikki Heat. Tough, sexy, professional, Nikki Heat carries a passion for justice as she leads one of New York City's top homicide squads. She's hit with an unexpected challenge when the commissioner assigns superstar magazine journalist Jameson Rook to ride along with her to research an article on New York's Finest. Pulitzer Prize-winning Rook is as much a handful as he is handsome. His wise-cracking and meddling aren't her only problems. As she works to unravel the secrets of the murdered real estate tycoon, she must also confront the spark between them. The one called heat.
 


I should start by saying that even if you’re not a fan of Castle, the television series, you can still pick up “Richard Castle’s” books and find them interesting. There might be a few insiders, such as the end acknowledgements that non fans would not completely get grasp of, but seemingly, that’s not important. However, being that I am a fan of the tv series, I was a bit disappointed, but I’m hoping the other books that follow in this series make up for it.

Plot: It very well felt like an episode of Castle. And if you’re unfamiliar with Castle, think any other murder investigation show. Someone is killed. Detectives go to investigate and solve the murder. Except one detective isn’t going in alone considering she has a reporter following her around for research. Together they work to solve the murder.

Characters: Similar to episodes of Castle, and again I kind of feel like I have to compare it to the show since these books are supposed to be written by a fiction character on Castle, we find out about the characters as the story progressives. Each character sort of has a backstory. Some backstories are revealed more than others. I really hope that these backstories are presented in the future books. It should definitely add more plot to the books if that’s the case.

Relationships: I think one thing that I like more in the books than I do on the show is the playfulness and sarcasm of the detectives with each other. While Castle, the show, has great writing, I personally favored the way these characters were constant at each other’s throats with snarky comments.

Romance: One of the things I really loved about the romance aspect in Heat Wave is that the author, Richard Castle, makes it seem like Nikki Heat is the one in major heat for Jameson Rook. That seems like something Richard Castle, the character in the TV series, would do. Anyone who watches the show knows that Rick is always the one who is pursuing Kate with his flirty comments. Oh, and I could totally see Kate confronting him on making the character based on her all hot for the character that is based on him. Well, maybe in the earlier seasons which is when the book was written.

Writing: One thing that I liked is that the author jumps from scene to scene. I’m not really a huge fan of two page color descriptions and in Heat Wave, I don’t have to worry about that at all. This book is very fast paced and almost passes you by.


3 out of 5 stars to Heat Wave by Richard Castle

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